


The secrets are out

by PerriewinkleNerdie



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22760494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie
Summary: For so long they kept their relationship to themselves
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	The secrets are out

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello, hello!  
> Does anyone remember me? I finally dug myself out of the hole, it feels good to sleep again :D  
> This fic is in the same timeline as the 'series' I started a (long) while ago, so Ethan and Claire met and married before she started working with him.  
> Enjoy! <3

They knew the day was coming. While at first it wasn’t hard to hide the fact that they were married, it became increasingly difficult to disguise the looks they were giving one another, the familiarity they felt when they were together.

Claire teased him about how he had to try and be more stern with her at times, that other interns were commenting on how he was a lot less angry with her. He smirked, saying how if she wanted him to be rude to her, she should have just asked, and then ripped her apart at morning rounds. So much so that she even had a single tear sting her eye for a moment. Later that night he told her that it was the worst thing he ever had to do, apologized, said that he felt horrible for the rest of the day and that she just _had_ to be brilliant so he wouldn’t have to do it again.

“That is, more brilliant than you already are… if that’s even possible.” He muttered into her ear, earning him a bright smile on her face.

They had it all figured out. How to act around one another to not seem suspicious, how to talk to not sound like two lovestruck idiots that they definitely were. Things were about to get much more complicated for both of them, and they didn’t even think about setting up a game plan just in case.

_Two lines._

She didn’t see him cry often. Come to think of it, she has seen him cry about two or three times. The first time was when he proposed, and she was in such a state of shock that she didn’t answer him for solid two minutes. The broken expression on his face broke her out of her trance, causing her to cry as well when she managed to choke out a breathless _‘yes’_ and they were both an engaged mess that night. The second time Ethan Ramsey cried was when he saw her in her wedding dress. Admittedly, it wasn’t the traditional way that it happened, he stumbled into her room by accident and as soon as he saw her in her white gown, tears gathered in his eyes, and he needed at least two tissues.

“Good thing you don’t have any make-up on, or Louise would have had to kill you for crying.” Claire laughed as she helped him with wiping the tears off his face.

“Now I feel like a fool. How come I’m the only one crying and you’re holding yourself together?” he responded as he wrapped his arms around her gently, taking a closer look at her face.

“Sheer willpower to not get killed by my sister before I marry you.” she whispered, pressing her cheek to his delicately.

“If I say I was hoping for a kiss, would you laugh?”

“You’ll get one soon, have some patience.” She did laugh, as she pushed him out the door with a wink.

And now the third time. She could pinpoint the exact moment in which his brain registered what was happening, his eyes got glossy and a choked sob escaped his lips. He pressed his palm to her still flat stomach, touching the back of her head softly as he kissed her forehead, crying silently.

At that exact moment they didn’t know just how difficult for him it would be to keep himself away from her at work. The first few weeks seemed to fly, and they both seemed fine. That is, if one was to overlook how Ethan insisted on helping her walk the stairs any chance he got when they were alone or how he insisted on doing everything for her when they were at home. It seemed as though he was more terrified about the pregnancy than her.

Keeping quiet about it would prove to be more difficult than they both previously thought it would. Ethan had no self-control when it came to her wellbeing. All it took was for her to bump her shoulder into another doctor and he was all over her, checking urgently if she was hurt. If she thought he would calm down as time went on, she was in for a surprise. He didn’t. If anything, it got worse.

As she began showing, and her clothes had to become more loose, he began thinking how the hell were they going to explain it to basically everyone that she was pregnant without revealing their marriage. The thought of coming out with their relationship crossed his mind briefly, but after a conversation with her, they decided to put it off as much as they could. Or as long as mother nature would let them.

Her friends found out by accident. She made sure to change her clothes when no one was around, but that one time Sienna and Jackie came back for Sienna’s bag and they saw her stomach. A very weird conversation followed, and she had no choice but to tell them. As far as they knew she had a one-night stand and got pregnant by accident. They were all supportive and offered her their help, even if the urge to know who the father is was killing them on the inside.

Ethan thought it was the most sarcastic joke that the world could pull off. Claire found the whole situation more funny than concerning, but their secret was out. Just like that. He wanted to do it on their own terms, but as always, the universe had different plans.

Running kids were not a normal thing in the hospital, but as much as staff and parents tried to minimize that activity, there was only so much one could do. And if one wasn’t careful enough, there was bound to be an accident, much like the one Claire experienced. Everything happened so fast that most of the people in the hall didn’t even see the whole incident.

A kid was running from his friend, and as he was turning around to shout something, he bumped into Claire, sending her onto the floor with a surprised gasp. All she felt was a slight pain in the lower part of her back, but she was seven months pregnant so there was a possibility of damage to the baby that had to be considered. Before she could even think about getting up, she heard Ethan call her name with concern and horror coloring his voice. Not even a minute passed before he was by her side, running his hands all over her, making sure that she was in one piece before picking her in his arms.

“Those kids…” he muttered under his breath, causing Claire to giggle quietly.

“You do know that we have one of those on the way, right?”

“Oh trust me, I’m aware. But they’re not going to be knocking pregnant women over.” Ethan nudged his nose against her forehead, the lines of his lips turning into a teasing smirk that was barely visible.

While Ethan arranged a doctor to get Claire checked out, the hospital began gossiping, and by the time they were done with the appointment, everyone had their own theory about what exactly was between the two doctors. Them having an affair was the most popular one.

Naveen, being Naveen, knew about all the rumors, and called both of them to his office to figure out what they would do. He wasn’t the only one aware of what was happening, as Harper, Ines and Zaid knew too, but he didn’t see the need to call the other three for the meeting, as the whole circumstance didn’t concern them.

“We all know what’s about to happen. The question is, what do you want to do about it?” he started, leaning back into his chair, looking at the couple before him. Ethan’s arm was draped over Claire’s shoulder, stroking her arm gently, while his other hand was curling into a fist and relaxing. She saw his frustration and covered his hand with hers, smiling gently to offer support.

“How bad is it?” Claire’s voice was quiet, with underlying sense of pensiveness and weariness. It wasn’t easy to be that careful about her pregnancy, not to mention how cautious they had to be about their relationship, and now it has finally reached its peak.

“Half of the hospital thinks you two had an affair. Some people think you used her.” He pointed to Ethan, watching how his friend’s face stiffened, anger evident in his features. “Others think you’re the one that used him.” his focus shifted to Claire, which unsurprisingly got her even more upset. “Some of them don’t know what to think, and there are also us normal people, that are waiting for some explanation before making their mind up.”

“We don’t owe them a damn thing.” Ethan seethed, his teeth clenched as he got more and more outraged.

“It’s your decision. It’s up to both of you to make the decision. I’ll support you, whatever you two decide to do.”

Ethan stood up, pacing all over the room, pinching his nose as he tried to come up with something, _anything_ , that would not end up blowing up in their faces. His own stupidity frightened him, he could feel frustration rising in his chest, threatening to suffocate him. How could he have let it happen? How was it possible that he, Ethan Ramsey, a man that had a strategy for most of the scenarios that could occur in his life, didn’t think how to handle the most important part of his life, that would very obviously cause confusion and possible problems later on should anyone find out the truth. How could he be so irresponsible?

“Ethan.” His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by his wife’s voice, breaking through the tempest of his insecurities and raging anger. He stopped pacing, the sweet silence fell upon his mind, and suddenly there was only her. There was nothing else in the whole world for him, nothing else mattered, only her and the immense love he had for her. She approached him slowly, her back hurting her more than before, resulting in the necessity for her to press a hand to the small of her back. Her feet touched his when she stood in front of him, but he was still not looking at her. He was ashamed, he felt like a failure; she could see it very clearly, and the closer to him she got, the more signs she noticed.

She placed her hand on his shoulder to keep herself balanced, brushing her other palm against his cheek, turning his head so their eyes would meet. Never before in her life had she seen him so upset, he was looking at her with so much shame that it almost overpowered the love she could still see there. Ethan leaned down, pressing their foreheads together in a moment of tender hush. The world could be falling apart and he would not notice, as long as he had her in his arms.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured, wrapping his arms around her slightly, careful to not cause her more pain. Claire shook her head, leaning back to look at him properly.

“I have no idea why you’re apologizing. You didn’t do anything… well, that’s not true. You are responsible for half of this baby, so there is that. And you’re also half of this marriage, so there is no walking out of that one either. And no, I don’t want you apologizing for either of those.” She teased him, achieving her goal to make him laugh. Pressing her lips to his cheek briefly, she walked them both back to their chairs.

Naveen remained quiet, watching the scene in front of him unveil. He’s spent enough time with the two to know that it was only a matter of time before Claire would figure out what to do, and then pull Ethan right along with her plan. He was stubborn, but when his wife was involved, the younger man transformed into an entirely different person.

“I’m tired of all that nonsense. I want to be able to hold your goddamn hand if I want to, I want to kiss you when I please and I don’t want to restrain myself. You’re my _husband_ , but we’re acting like a pair of high schoolers that are scared of getting caught making out. We’re having a baby, there is _no_ way I’m keeping you being a father a secret. So…” she spoke clearly, her hands gesturing lively. Turning to her husband, she took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together, squeezing gently. “We’re gonna walk out of here, holding hands, and we’re not going to be trying to pretend like we barely know each other. We’re going to be together. We’re gonna be a family.”

“I quite like the sound of that.” He let out a relieved laugh, his expression softening when he saw Claire take her wedding ring off the necklace that she wore and handed it to him. He put it back on her finger, where it belonged, then kissed it, looking up at her with warm gaze. He let her pull him up from his chair and out the door. “Naveen?”

“Oh I’m definitely going with you. There is no way I’m missing that”

Ethan and Claire walked ahead of Naveen, giving the older doctor a chance to gauge reactions from people they passed by. Ethan’s arm was wrapped around her gently as the two spoke in a quiet manner, smiling brightly at an inside joke. From what The Chief of Medicine could notice, most people had to do a double take. A wave of whispers followed the three of them, which was to be expected, but it did nothing to put them at ease. There was no way of knowing how people would react, but as far as Naveen could see, neither of them seemed to notice the commotion around them.

Harper was standing by the nurse’s desk, signing off some paperwork, when a sound of whispers and gossip, like a wave, crashed into the room. From the scraps of the conversations around her she could vaguely make out what was happening, and once she saw Claire and Ethan walking down the hall, all was clear to her. Smirking to herself, she decided to help the pair along and make it a bit easier for everyone in the hospital.

“Claire! I heard you had an accident.” She called out to the blonde as she approached them, running her eyes along Claire to make sure she was fine.

“It wasn’t that bad, we’re fine. How could we not, Ethan didn’t let me make a single step without him by my side.” Her green eyes sparkled with confidence, turning to look at Ethan, whose eyes were already on her, one of the gentlest expressions taking over his features.

“Oh, right, you two are married. It’s kinda hard to remember that when you two are acting all…” Harper raised her voice a little, making sure to be heard, shaking her hand as though she was searching for a word to finish her sentence. “… professional.”

“Someone around here has to.” Ethan spoke up, looking away from his wife just in time to see Harper roll her eyes sarcastically.

“Sure. You are the most professional one here. I would never be able to pretend like I don’t know my spouse, let alone keep each other at the arm’s length once you ‘get to know each other.’, so you two are my heroes.” She looked between the two and then walked around them to stand next to Naveen. “That being said, I would never be able or willing to do that.”

Their conversation sparked interest among their surroundings, and in her peripheral vision Claire could see her friends, walking towards them with confusion on their faces. She excused herself, pointing towards the group, and Ethan pressed his lips to her forehead before letting her go, keeping a close eye on her in case something happened.

Sienna jumped to her side, helping her walk to the rest of their friends, smiling reassuringly at Ethan. Claire gave her a look of mock annoyance, knowing exactly what she was doing. Her friends were looking at her with confusion overtaking their faces, clearly waiting for some sort of an explanation.

“I’ll say it as simply as our current circumstances and amount of time allows me. I promise I’ll explain it further later, it’s just that we don’t have time now, and I need you to know what’s going on, okay?” Claire took a deep breath when all her friends nodded in agreement.

“Take your time… kind of.” Bryce nudged Jackie’s arm with her elbow, her form shaking in a quiet laugh. Claire joined her, nodding her head slightly.

“Okay, so… I assume you already know at least part of it. The pregnancy was _not_ an accident… well, it wasn’t exactly planned either but-“

“Herondale, breathe. We get it, you didn’t plan on it but it happened and you’re happy, good for you. Who’s the father?” Jackie interrupted her, waving her hand in the air impatiently in the gesture to hurry her up.

“Ethan.” His name burst out of her lips before she could think of a way to deliver the news, but maybe it was for the best. Her friends had the reaction completely opposite to what she was expecting. They seemed… fine with it.

“Can’t say I didn’t expect it, honestly. I did catch him looking at you with something tender in his eyes but didn’t pay much thought to it. Guess I should have asked.” Elijah smiled teasingly at her, causing her cheeks to flush.

“There is something else.” Claire added, earning a collective groan from the group.

“Seriously, what else could there be?” Jackie whined, falling against the wall theatrically. It was at this exact moment that Ethan decided to join them, wrapping his arm around Claire’s back, asking quietly if she was okay. She nodded, leaning against him a little.

“I was just about to tell them about us.” Explaining, she nudged his side with her finger, indicating that he should be the one to break the news. Seeing him being reluctant, she whispered something about her telling them about the baby, so he didn’t really have a choice.

“Very well. We have been married for the past three years.” He tried to keep his tone still, but it proved to be impossible. Being able to finally say it felt liberating, like he was able to breathe again. Her friends were going through quite the opposite process at that exact moment, and there would have been more questions if it wasn’t for the fact that their pagers went off at the exactly same moment, summoning them to the opposite parts of the hospital.

“I’ll explain later, I promise!” Claire called out after them as they left the room, laughing under her breath, relief flooding her body.

Ethan observed his wife with curious eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time she was this relaxed, despite everything that happened that day. An idea formed in his mind and he smirked as he approached her. Not giving a damn about who saw them being a married couple felt like everything would be alright. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned down to kiss her gently before whispering, their eyes locked.

“Does that mean that you’ll finally let me escort you everywhere, so I’ll know you’re safe?”

“Absolutely not.”


End file.
